Hedge, who was also named First Team All-West Region, helped lead Santa Clara women's soccer to its most wins (17) since 2005, most nonconference wins (9) and regular season wins (16) since the 2001 national championship season, all while playing one of the toughest schedules in the country. She finished the year tied for third on the team with seven goals while adding two assists. Hedge was at her best at the beginning of conference play when she scored six goals in the team's first five league games.

She is the first Bronco named a semifinalist since Julie Ertz (Johnston) earned the honor three years in a row (2011-13). Previous Bronco winners of the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy include Mandy Clemens in 1999 and Aly Wagner in 2002.

"Kelcie Hedge was an unbelievable force for us this year," Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith said. "What I appreciated most about what she did was the behind the scenes things. Obviously she could score goals but she impacted the game off the ball, she impacted the game defensively, and she impacted our culture in training every day. She's absolutely a team-first kid that works her butt off and just had an incredible year for us. Without her, we don't have the season we did and she is very deserving of being a semifinalist. The last time we had that was Julie Johnston who has continued to have success and I'm sure Kelcie will as well."

The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most prestigious individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer and has been awarded annually since 1967.

Three men's finalists and three women's finalists will be named on Dec. 7 in conjunction with the Men's College Cup semifinals in Santa Barbara, Calif. The 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy banquet will be held at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Jan. 4, 2019 to formally announce this year's winners.

For more information about the history of the MAC Hermann Trophy, click here.